160 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
Comments on U. S. P. Text 
1. ) Titles and Synonyms. See Names and Synonyms. 
2. ) Definition. A definition is not given previous to 1900. The 
modification in the definition for 1910 was necessitated by the Pure 
Food and Drugs Act of 1906 which demanded reasonable limits 
rather than an absolutely fixed standard. 
3. ) Preservation. The 1910 revision is the only one that directs 
that the solution be kept in amber colored bottles to protect it 
against light. 
Fowler’s Solution upon standing deposits a flocculent precipi¬ 
tate. This precipitate has apparently introduced a problem for 
comments and criticisms as to the cause, the composition and the 
ways and means of eliminating this objectionable factor. Unfor¬ 
tunately much of the work contributed on this topic is merely theo¬ 
retical and not the result of experimental labor, at least no data 
of an experimental type are given in the majority of papers pub¬ 
lished. 
The causes for this precipitate as given, may be considered un¬ 
der three groupings: 
1st. The action of certain organisms in the water, resulting in 
an algaceous growth. 
2nd. The action of the alkali on the glass container. 
3rd. The action of the alkali on one or more of the ingredients 
of the alcoholic tincture or spirit used. 
Those supporting the first theory are: J. Mueller 43 who sug¬ 
gests the addition of 0.4 p. c. of borax, as a preservative; Perschne 44 
who suggests the use of glycerin for the same purpose; Kollo 45 and 
Benysek 46 who claim that the alcohol present acts as a preserva¬ 
tive; 47 while Feuer 48 consideres its preservative action negligible; 
and Dannenberg 49 who speaks of the precipitate as an algaceous 
growth. Brautigam 50 apparently disagrees with the above, in his 
claim that the precipitate is not an algaceous growth but results 
from the action of the alkali on the glass container. This is sup¬ 
ported in part by Neinhaus 51 who calls attention also, to the U. S. P. 
43 Am. Jour. Pharm., 51, p. 249; from Pharm. Ztg. (1879.) 
44 Am. Journ. Pharm., 55, p. 456; from Pharm. Ztschr. f. Russland (1887.) 
46 Pharm. Post. 29, p. 233 (1896.) 
48 Pharm. Post., p. 157 (1896.), see also ibid. 32, p. 49. 
47 Presumably the preservative action of the alcohol tends to prevent the 
growth of organisms that result in the formation of a flocculent mass. 
48 Pharm. Post., 25, p. 381 (1895.) 
49 Pharm. Centralh., 22, p. 319 (1881.) 
50 Pharm. Centralh., 33, p. 324 (1892.) 
61 Pharm. Ztg., 37, p. 331 (1892.) 
